Systems and methods to service an electronic device

ABSTRACT

The disclosed embodiments include systems and methods to service an electronic device. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a request to service an electronic device communicatively connected to a test station. The method also includes obtaining a device model and an image group of the electronic device and determining criteria to service the electronic device in accordance with a desired setup, where each image group is associated with one or more different device models. The method further includes transmitting a request to service the electronic device to a management system having an image of applications compatible with the image group of the electronic device. The method further includes receiving at least one of a virtual hard drive storing a copy of the image of the applications and an indication of a location of the virtual hard drive. The method further includes executing the applications to service the electronic device.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods toservice an electronic device.

Quality control procedures for servicing an electronic device such as asmartphone, tablet, and PDA often include removing personal andproprietary content from the electronic device, re-configuring hardware,software, and/or firmware running on the electronic device, and/orinstalling new software and/or firmware on the electronic device. Aprocedure to service the electronic device may be based on the make andmodel of the electronic device, the physical condition of the electronicdevice, and one or more manufacturer, vendor, customer, and/or servicetechnician specified criteria. Given that each of the foregoingrequirements should be satisfied in order to successfully service theelectronic device, manually servicing the electronic device may be errorprone. Further, manually servicing multiple electronic devices would notonly be error prone, but would also be proportionally more timeconsuming.

Some quality control procedures utilize a test station to automaticallyservice the electronic device, thereby reducing technician error.However, different makes and device models of electronic devices mayhave conflicting setup procedures and may require different hardwarecomponents to configure the respective electronic devices. As such, itmay be difficult for the test station to service multiple makes anddevice models of electronic devices in accordance with each respectiveelectronic device's desired setup.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

The disclosed embodiments provide systems and methods to service anelectronic device. In accordance with one embodiment, acomputer-implemented method to service an electronic device in provided.The method includes receiving a request to service a first electronicdevice communicatively connected to a first test station. The methodfurther includes obtaining a device model and an image group of thefirst electronic device, where each image group is associated with oneor more different device models. The method further includes determiningcriteria for servicing the first electronic device in accordance with afirst desired setup, the criteria being based on the device model of thefirst electronic device. The method further includes transmitting arequest to service the first electronic device to a management systemhaving an image of one or more applications compatible with the imagegroup of the first electronic device. The method further includesreceiving at least one of a first virtual hard drive storing a copy ofthe image of the one or more applications and an indication of alocation of the first virtual hard drive, the first virtual hard drivebeing accessible to the first test station. The method further includesexecuting a first set of the one or more applications to service thefirst electronic device in accordance with the first desired setup.

In accordance with another illustrative embodiment a system forservicing multiple electronic devices is provided. The system includes aplurality of test stations, each test station operable to service aplurality of electronic devices, each electronic device associated withan electronic device model (device model), and an image group that isassociated with at least one device model. The system also includes amanagement system communicatively connected to the plurality of teststations. The management system is operable to receive a request from afirst test station of the plurality of test stations, the first teststation being communicatively connected to a first plurality ofelectronic devices. The management system is also operable to determinean image group of the first plurality of electronic devices. Themanagement system is further operable to obtain a copy of an image ofone or more applications operable to run on the first plurality ofelectronic devices, wherein the copy of the image is stored on a firstvirtual hard drive. The management system is further operable totransmit the first virtual hard drive storing the copy of the image ofthe one or more applications to the first test station, wherein a firstset of the one or more applications are executed by the first teststation to service the first plurality of electronic devicescommunicatively connected to the first test station.

In accordance with another illustrative embodiment, a non-transitorymachine-readable medium including instructions stored therein, whichwhen executed by one or more processors, causes the one or moreprocessors to perform operations to service an electronic device isprovided. The instructions include instructions to receive a request toservice a first electronic device. The instructions also includeinstructions to provide an interface to display one or more devicemodels of one or more image groups on a first test stationcommunicatively connected to the first electronic device, where eachimage group is associated with one or more different device models. Theinstructions further include instructions to obtain a device model andan image group of the first electronic device. The instructions furtherinclude instructions to determine criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device in accordance with a first desired setup, wherein thecriteria is based on at least one of the device model of the firstelectronic device, a condition of the first electronic device, at leastone user specified criteria, and at least one customer specifiedcriteria. The instructions further include instructions to transmit arequest to service the first electronic device to a management systemhaving an image of one or more applications compatible with the imagegroup of the first electronic device. The instructions further includeinstructions to receive at least one of a first virtual hard drivestoring a copy of the image of the one or more applications, the firstvirtual hard drive being accessible to the first test station and anindication of a location of the first virtual hard drive. Theinstructions further include instructions to execute a first set of theone or more applications to service the first electronic device inaccordance with the first desired setup.

In accordance with another illustrative embodiment, acomputer-implemented method to service an electronic device is provided.The method includes receiving a request to service a first electronicdevice. The method also includes providing an interface to display oneor more device models of one or more image groups on a first teststation communicatively connected to the first electronic device, whereeach image group is associated with one or more different device models.The method further includes obtaining a device model and an image groupof the first electronic device. The method further includes determiningcriteria for servicing the first electronic device in accordance with afirst desired setup, the criteria being based on the device model of thefirst electronic device. The method further includes transmitting arequest to service the first electronic device to a management systemhaving an image of one or more applications compatible with the imagegroup of the first electronic device, the management system beingoperable to provide, over an iSCSI, a first virtual hard drive storing acopy of the image of the one or more applications to the first teststation. The method further includes requesting the first test stationto execute a first set of the one or more applications to service thefirst electronic device in accordance with the first desired setup.

Additional details of the disclosed embodiments are provided below inthe detailed description and corresponding drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described indetail below with reference to the attached drawing Figures, which areincorporated by reference herein, and wherein:

FIG. 1A is a network environment for servicing an electronic device inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a network environment for servicing an electronic device inaccordance with another embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a first interface displaying a selectionof device models and image groups that may be serviced by a first teststation of FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a tree diagram illustrating a process for determining criteriafor servicing the first electronic device in accordance with a firstdesired setup in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a second interface displaying criteria forservicing the first electronic device of FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordancewith the first desired setup on the display screen of the first teststation in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a third interface displaying analternative test station that is operable to service the firstelectronic device of FIGS. 1A and 1B based on the first desired setupillustrated in FIG. 4 on a display screen of the management station ofFIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of different components of the managementsystem of FIGS. 1A and 1B operable to create a virtual hard drivestoring a copy of an image of applications for servicing one or theelectronic devices of FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with one embodiment.

The illustrated figures are only exemplary and are not intended toassert or imply any limitation with regard to the environment,architecture, design, or process in which different embodiments may beimplemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A is a network environment 100 for servicing an electronic devicein accordance with one embodiment. The network environment 100 includesa first test station 108 that is communicatively connected to a firstelectronic device 132 and a second electronic device 134. The firstelectronic device 132 and the second electronic device 134 may belong toan identical device model that is associated with a first image group ormay belong to different device models that are associated with the firstimage group. The network environment 100 also includes a second teststation 110 that is communicatively connected to a third electronicdevice 136 and a fourth electronic device 138. The third electronicdevice 136 and the fourth electronic device 138 may belong to anidentical device model that is associated with a second image group ormay belong to different device models that are associated with thesecond image group.

The first, second, third, and fourth electronic devices 132, 134, 136,and 138 include smartphones, tablet computers, electronic watches, PDAs,as well as similar devices having hardware, software, and/or firmwarethat may be configured by one of the first and second test stations 108and 110. Each of the first, second, third, and fourth electronic devices132, 134, 136, and 138 is associated with an image group and a devicemodel of the respective image group. For example, the device model ofthe first electronic device 132 may be a sixth generation smartphonefrom a first manufacturer having a first display size, and the devicemodel of the second electronic device 134 may be a sixth generationsmartphone from the first manufacturer having a second display size.Further, the device model of the third electronic device 136 may be afifth generation smartphone manufactured from a second manufacturer, andthe device model of the fourth electronic device 138 may be a sixthgeneration smartphone manufactured from the second manufacturer.Further, the first image group may include all device models of a sixthgeneration of smartphones from the first manufacturer and the secondimage group may include all device models of fourth-seventh generationsof smartphones from the second manufacturer.

As defined herein, an image group is associated with one or more devicemodels that may be serviced by applications stored on a single image,such as first image 112 or second image 114. Continuing with theforegoing example, the first image 112 is an image of one or moreapplications compatible with different device models of electronicdevices that are associated with the first image group (applicationsused to service a sixth generation of smartphones manufactured from thefirst manufacturer). Further, the second image 114 is an image of one ormore applications compatible with different device models of electronicdevices that are associated with the second image group (applicationsused to service fourth-seventh generations of smartphones manufacturedfrom the second manufacturer). Further, a first copy of the first image112 and a first copy of the second image 114 are stored on a firstvirtual hard drive 122 and a second virtual hard drive 124,respectively, and may be provided to the first and second test stations108 and 110, respectively. The first test station 108 may access thefirst virtual hard drive 122 and run a first set of applications storedon the first virtual hard drive 122 to service a first device modelassociated with the first image group. The first test station 108 mayalso run a second set of applications stored on the first virtual harddrive 122 to service a second device model associated with the firstimage group. Moreover, the first test station 108 may access differentsets of applications stored on the first virtual hard drive 122 toservice different device models associated with the first image group.Additional descriptions of applications stored on the first and secondimages 112 and 114 as well as the first and second virtual hard drives122 and 124 are provided in the paragraphs below.

The network environment 100 further includes a management system 102that is communicatively connected to the first test station 108 and thesecond test station 110 via network 106. The management system 102 isalso communicatively connected to a storage medium 104. The storagemedium 104 may be formed from data storage components such as, but notlimited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flashmemory, magnetic hard drives, solid state hard drives, CD-ROM drives,DVD drives, floppy disk drives, as well as other types of data storagecomponents and devices. In some embodiments, the storage medium 104includes multiple data storage devices. In further embodiments, themultiple data storage devices may be physically stored at differentlocations. The storage medium 104 includes the first image 112 and thesecond image 114. In other embodiments, the storage medium 104 mayinclude a different number of images of applications for servicing thefirst, second, third, and fourth electronic devices 132, 134, 136, and138 as well as other electronic devices (not shown) that arecommunicatively connected to the first and second test stations 108 and110.

The management system 102 may be formed by one or more server computers,desktop computers, laptop computers, similar electronic devices, and thecombination thereof that are operable to access the first image 112 andthe second image 114, and to create the first virtual hard drive 122 andthe second virtual hard drive 124. In some embodiments, the managementsystem 102 is further operable to provide an indication of a location ofthe first virtual hard drive 122 and an indication of a location of thesecond virtual hard drive 124 to the first and second test stations 108and 110. In other embodiments, the management system 102 is operable toprovide the first virtual hard drive 122 and the second virtual harddrive 124 over the network 106 to the first test station 108 and thesecond test station 110, respectively.

In some embodiments, the management system 102 is further operable tomodify one or more applications stored on the first image 112. In one ofsuch embodiments, the management system 102 is also operable to create athird virtual hard drive (not shown) containing a copy of the updatedfirst image 112, and further operable to provide at least one of thethird virtual hard drive and a location of the third virtual hard driveto the first test station 108. In further embodiments, the management102 is operable to create additional virtual hard drives (not shown)storing additional copies of the first image 112 or the second image 114and is operable to provide the additional virtual hard drives to othertest stations (not shown) that are communicatively connected to thenetwork 106. Additional descriptions of the management system 102 areprovided in the paragraphs below and are illustrated in at least FIG. 6.

The first test station 108 and the second test station 110 includehardware, software, and/or firmware components operable to serviceelectronic devices communicatively connected to the respective teststation 108 or 110. More particularly, the first test station 108 isoperable to receive requests to service the first and/or secondelectronic device 132 or 134 and is operable to provide an interface todisplay a selection of one or more device models that are associatedwith one or more image groups on a display screen of the first teststation 108. A technician may select the device model and the imagegroup of the first electronic device 132 from the selection. The firsttest station 108 may also communicate with the first electronic device132 to directly determine a device model and an image group associatedwith of the first electronic device 132.

The first test station 108 is further operable to transmit a request tothe management system 102 to obtain applications for servicing the firstelectronic device 132. As stated herein, the management system 102, uponreceipt of the request to service the first electronic device 132,provides at least one of the first virtual hard drive 122 and a locationof the virtual hard drive 122 to the first test station 108. In someembodiments, the location of the first virtual hard drive 122 and thefirst virtual hard drive 122 are transmitted over an internet smallcomputer systems interface (iSCSI) of the network 106.

In some embodiments, the first test station 108, upon receipt of thefirst virtual hard drive 122 or the location of the first virtual harddrive 122, determines a first desired setup of the first electronicdevice 132. As defined herein, a setup of an electronic device specifieswhich software and/or firmware should be installed or removed from theelectronic device as well as hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigurations of the electronic device after the electronic device issuccessfully serviced. The setup also specifies whether to removeexisting user and/or proprietary content from the electronic device. Thefirst test station 108 determines criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device 132 in accordance with the first desired setup. Eachdesired setup includes one or more device specific, model specific,vender specific, condition specific criteria, and/or similar criteriafor servicing an electronic device, such as the first electronic device132. For example, criteria for servicing the first electronic device 132in accordance with the first desired setup includes criteria based onthe model of the first electronic device 132, criteria based on adestination of the first electronic device 132, criteria based on adevice use condition of the first electronic device 132, and criteriabased on a device repair condition of the first electronic device 132.Further, criteria for servicing the first electronic device 132 inaccordance with the first desired setup also includes criteria based ontechnician, manufacturer, vendor, and/or owner specified instructions,as well as other criteria that should be satisfied in order to servicethe first electronic device 132 in accordance with the first desiredsetup. Different electronic devices may have different criteria forservicing the respective electronic device. Additional descriptionsregarding how to determine the first desired setup of the firstelectronic device 132 as well as criteria for servicing other electronicdevices in accordance with other desired setups are provided in thefollowing paragraphs and are illustrated in FIG. 3.

The first test station 108 then executes one or more applications storedon the first virtual hard drive 122 to service the first electronicdevice 132 in accordance with the first desired setup. In one of suchembodiments, the first virtual hard drive 122 contains applications forservicing every device model of the first image group. As such, thefirst test station 108 executes a first set of the one or moreapplications to service the first electronic device 132 in accordancewith the first desired setup and executes a different set of the one ormore applications to service another device belonging to a differentdevice model of the same image group. For example, if the firstelectronic device 132 belongs to a first device model having a firstscreen size, then the first test station 108 would execute pixel densityand screen resolution related applications stored on the first virtualhard drive 122 that are compatible with the first screen size to servicethe first electronic device 132. Similarly, if the second electronicdevice 134 belongs to a second device model having a second screen size,then the first test station 108 would execute pixel density and screenresolution related applications stored on the first virtual hard drive122 that are compatible with the second screen size to service thesecond electronic device 134.

The first test station 108 also obtains the device model and image groupof the second electronic device 134. In some embodiments, the first teststation 108, upon receipt of at least one of the first virtual harddrive 122 or the location of the first virtual hard drive 122,determines whether the second electronic device 134 should also beserviced in accordance with the first desired setup. For example, if thefirst electronic device 132 and the second electronic device 134 bothbelong to the same device model, then the first test station 108 alsoexecutes the first set of the one or more applications stored on thefirst virtual hard drive 122 to service the second electronic device 134in accordance with the first desired setup. Alternatively, if the firstelectronic device 132 and the second electronic device 134 belong todifferent device models, then the first test station 108 performs theprocesses described herein to determine a second desired setup forservicing the second electronic device 134, and executes a second set ofapplications stored on the first virtual hard drive 122 to service thesecond electronic device 134 in accordance with the second desiredsetup. The first test station 108 may be communicatively connected toadditional electronic devices (not shown), and may be operable todetermine a desired setup for each of the additional electronic devicesand service each of the additional electronic devices in accordance withthe desired setup of the respective electronic device.

The second test station 110 is communicatively connected to the thirdand fourth electronic devices 136 and 138 and is operable to perform theoperations described in the foregoing paragraphs to service the thirdand the fourth electronic devices 136 and 138. Further, additional teststations (not shown) may also perform the foregoing processes to serviceelectronic devices communicatively connected to the additional teststations. In one of such embodiments, a third test station (not shown)is communicatively connected to a fifth electronic device that isassociated with the same image group as the first and second electronicdevices 132 and 134. In such an embodiment, the third test stationdetermines the device model and image group of the fifth electronicdevice, then transmits a request to service the fifth electronic deviceto the management system 102. The management system 102, upon receipt ofthe request, determines if the first virtual hard drive 122 is utilizedby the first test station 108. The management system 102 then providesthe third test station with the first virtual hard drive 122 or thelocation of the first virtual hard drive 122 if the first virtual harddrive 122 is not being accessed by the first test station 108.Alternatively, the management system 102 creates a third virtual harddrive which contains a second copy of the first image 112, and providesthe third virtual hard drive or a location of the third virtual harddrive over the network 106 to the third test station.

In some embodiments, the management system 102 has access to a first setof virtual hard drives (not shown), where each virtual hard drive of thefirst set of virtual hard drives stores a copy of an first image 112.The management system 102 provides each virtual hard drive to adifferent test station that is communicatively connected to themanagement system 102 upon receipt of multiple requests to servicemultiple electronic devices communicatively connected to the multipletest stations. The first test station 108 may dynamically request themanagement system 102 to readjust the number of the first set of virtualhard drives based on the number of the first set of virtual hard drivesrelative to the number of test stations communicatively connected to themanagement system 102.

In one of such embodiments, the first test station 108 determines anumber of test stations that are communicatively connected to themanaging system 102 and are utilized to service at least one electronicdevice that is associated with the first image group (first group oftest stations). The first test station 108 also determines the number ofvirtual hard drives that belong to the first set of virtual hard drives(virtual hard drives that store a copy of the first image 112). Thefirst test station 108 then dynamically requests the management system102 to readjust the number of virtual hard drives that store a copy ofthe first image 112 based on a first ratio of the number of teststations belonging to the first group of test stations relative to thenumber of virtual hard drives that store a copy of the first image 112.For example, the first test station 108 may request the managementsystem 102 to delete at least one existing virtual hard drive thatstores a copy of the first image 112 if the first ratio is less thanone, which indicates the management system 102 has access to morevirtual hard drives storing the first image 112 than to the number oftest stations utilized to service electronic devices that are associatedwith the first image group. Alternatively, the first test station 108may request the management system 102 to create a new virtual hard drivethat stores a copy of the first image 112 if the first ratio is greaterthan one, which indicates that the management system 102 has access toless virtual hard drives storing the first image 112 than to the numberof test stations utilized to service electronic devices that areassociated with the first image group.

In some embodiments, the first test station 108 also requests themanagement system 102 to dynamically readjust the number of virtual harddrives that store a copy of the first image 112 to account forfluctuations to the number of test stations utilized to serviceelectronic devices that are associated with the first image group withina future operational duration, such as within the next hour, day, week,or other increment of time. In one of such embodiments, the first teststation 108 determines that five virtual hard drives, each storing acopy of the first image 112, are currently provided to five teststations to service electronic devices that are associated with thefirst image group. The first test station 108 further determines that atone time within the next day, a maximum of ten test stations would beconcurrently utilized to service electronic devices that are associatedwith the first image group. The first test station 108 then determinesthat the number of virtual hard drives storing a copy of the first imagewill not be sufficient given the increase in the number of test stationsto be concurrently utilized, and requests the management system 102 tocreate additional virtual hard drives to account for the increase in thetotal number of test stations to be concurrently utilized to serviceelectronic devices that are associated with the first image group withinthe next week.

In another one of such embodiments, the first test station 108 predictsthe maximum number of test stations to be concurrently utilized withinthe next week based on the maximum number of test stations previouslyutilized within a preceding operational duration, such as within thepast hour, day, week, month, or another time increment. In one of suchembodiments, the first test station 108 determines that at one timewithin the last week, fifteen test stations were concurrently utilizedto service electronic devices that are associated with the first imagegroup, and predicts that at one point in the next week, fifteen teststations would again be concurrently utilized to service electronicdevices that are associated with the first image group. The first teststation 108 then requests the management system 102 to create additionalvirtual hard drives in anticipation of the increase in the total numberof test stations to be concurrently utilized to service electronicdevices that are associated with the first image group within the nextweek.

In some embodiments, the first test station 108 also requests themanagement system 102 to dynamically readjust the number of virtual harddrives that store a copy of the first image 112 to account forfluctuations to the number of electronic devices scheduled to beserviced by test stations. In one of such embodiments, the first teststation 108 determines how many electronic devices that are associatedwith the first image group may be serviced by the test stations anddetermines a maximum number of electronic devices that are associatedwith the first image group are scheduled to be concurrently serviced atone time within an operational duration. The first test station 108 thenrequests the management system 102 to readjust the number of teststations utilized to service electronic devices that are associated withthe first image group based on the number of electronic devicesscheduled to be concurrently serviced within the operational duration.For example, if the first test station 108 determines that ten teststations are presently utilized to concurrently service 100 electronicdevices and are operable to service a maximum of 100 electronic devices,and that 200 electronic devices that are associated with the first imagegroup are scheduled to be concurrently serviced at one time within thenext day, then the first station 108 would request the management system102 to create additional virtual hard drives that store a copy of thefirst image 112 in anticipation of an increase in the number ofelectronic devices scheduled to be concurrently serviced. The first teststation 108 may also request the management system 102 to increase thenumber of test stations to be utilized to service electronic devicesthat are associated with the first image group in anticipation of theforegoing increase.

In one of such embodiments, the first test station 108 identifiesanother test station that is currently not utilized to serviceelectronic devices that are associated with the first image group but isoperable to service electronic devices that are associated with thefirst image group. The first test station 108 then requests theidentified test station or requests the management system 102 to serviceor to schedule the identified test station to service one or moreelectronic devices that are associated with the first image group.

In another one of such embodiments, the first test station 108 may alsodetermine a second ratio of the maximum number of electronic devicesthat are associated with the first image group and scheduled to beconcurrently serviced relative to the maximum number of electronicdevices the test stations are operable to concurrently service, andrequest the management system 102 to readjust the number of teststations utilized to service electronic devices that are associated withthe first image group based on the second ratio. The first test station108 then requests the management system 102 to reduce the number of teststations utilized to service electronic devices that are associated withthe first image group if the second ratio is less than one and requeststhe management system 102 to increase the number of test stationsutilized to service the electronic devices that are associated with thefirst image group if the second ratio is greater than one.

In some embodiments, the first test station 108 may also determine anumber of test stations that are communicatively connected to themanaging system 102 and are utilized to service at least one electronicdevice that is associated with a second image group (a second group oftest stations). The first test station 108 also determines the number ofvirtual hard drives that belong to the second set of virtual hard drives(virtual hard drives that store a copy of the second image 114). Thefirst test station 108 then dynamically requests the management system102 to readjust the number of virtual hard drives that store a copy ofthe first image 112 based on the first ratio and also based on a thirdratio of the number of test stations belonging to the second group oftest stations relative to the number of virtual hard drives that store acopy of the second image 114. For example, if the value of the firstratio is less than one, then the management system 102 has access tomore virtual hard drives that store a copy of the first image 112 thanthe number of test stations that are utilized to service electronicdevices that are associated with the first image group. Similarly, ifthe value of the third ratio is less than one, then the managementsystem 102 has access to more virtual hard drives that store a copy ofthe second image 114 than the number of test stations that are utilizedto service electronic devices that are associated with the second imagegroup.

The first ratio and the third ratio may also be compared with each otherto determine a disparity between the number of virtual hard drivescontaining a copy of the first image 112 and the number of test stationsthat are utilized to service electronic devices that are associated withthe first image group (first ratio) relative to the disparity betweenthe number of virtual hard drives containing a copy of the second image114 and the number of test stations that are concurrently utilized toservice electronic devices that are associated with the second imagegroup (third ratio). For example, if ten test stations are utilized toservice electronic devices that are associated with the first imagegroup and the management system 102 has access to twenty virtual harddrives, each storing a copy of the first image 112, then ten virtualhard drives are not being utilized, and the first ratio has a value of0.5. Further, if ten test stations are also utilized to serviceelectronic devices that are associated with the second image group, andthe management system 102 has access to thirty virtual hard drives, eachstoring a copy of the second image 114, then twenty virtual hard drivesare not being utilized, and the second ratio has a value ofapproximately 0.33.

The first test station 108 may then determine that one or more virtualhard drives containing a copy of the second image 114 may be less likelyutilized relative to virtual hard drives containing a copy of the firstimage 112. The first test station 108 may then request the managementsystem 102 to prioritize deleting one or more virtual hard drives thatstore a copy of the second image 114 over deleting one or more virtualhard drives that store a copy of the first image 112. The first station108 may also perform a combination of the foregoing processes to requestthe system manager 102 to delete existing virtual hard drives and tocreate new virtual hard drives, and to manage fluctuations of the numberof electronic devices scheduled to be concurrently serviced by one ormore of the testing stations communicatively connected to the systemmanager 102.

In another one of such embodiments, the first test station 108 mayrequest the management system 102 to provide the third virtual harddrive to the first test station 108 at or approximate the scheduled timeto service the fifth electronic device. Additional descriptions ofvarious operations of the first test station 108 and the second teststation 110 are provided in the paragraphs below and are illustrated inFIGS. 2-5.

The network 106 can include, for example, any one or more of a cellularnetwork, a satellite network, a personal area network (PAN), a localarea network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a broadband network(BBN), the Internet, and the like. Further, the network 106 can include,but is not limited to, any one or more of the following networktopologies, including a bus network, a star network, a ring network, amesh network, a star-bus network, tree or hierarchical network, orsimilar network architecture. The network 106 may be implemented usingdifferent protocols of the internet protocol suite such as TCP/IP. Thenetwork 106 includes one or more interfaces for data transfer. In someembodiments, the first and second virtual hard drives 122 and 124 aretransmitted over the network 106 via an Internet Small Computer SystemsInterface (iSCSI) to first and second test stations 108 and 110,respectively. In some embodiments, the network 106 includes a wired orwireless networking device (not shown) operable to facilitatecommunication between the management system 102, the first and secondtest stations 108 and 110, and the electronic devices 132, 134, 136, and138. Examples of the networking device include, but are not limited to,wired and wireless routers, wired and wireless modems, access points, aswell as other types of suitable networking devices described herein.Although FIG. 1A illustrates a single management system 102 that iscommunicatively connected to the first and second test stations 108 and110 via the network 106, additional management systems (not shown) andadditional test stations (not shown) may also be communicativelyconnected to the management system 102 via the network 106.

FIG. 1B is a network environment 150 for servicing an electronic devicein accordance with another embodiment. A control station 111 iscommunicatively connected to the management system 102, the first teststation 108, and the second test station 110 via the network 106. Atechnician may operate the control station 111 to manage each teststation communicatively connected to the control station 111 to serviceelectronic devices communicatively connected to the respective teststation. The control station 111, similar to the first test station 108of FIG. 1A, receives a request to service the first electronic device132, determines that the first electronic device 132 is communicativelyconnected to the first test station 108, and provides an interface todisplay a selection of one or more device models of one or more imagegroups the first test station 108 is operable to service on a displayscreen of the control station 111. Similarly, the control station 111may receive a request to service the fourth electronic device 138,determine that the fourth electronic device 138 is communicativelyconnected to the second test station 110, and provide an interface todisplay a selection of one or more device models of one or more imagegroups the second test station 110 is operable to service on the displayscreen of the control station 111. In some embodiments, the technicianmay separately select the device model and the image group of the firstelectronic device 132 and the fourth electronic device 138 from theselections. The control station 111 may also communicate with the firstelectronic device 132 and the fourth electronic device 138,respectively, or with the first test station 108 and second test station110, respectively, to determine device model and an image group of thefirst electronic device 132 and the fourth electronic device 138,respectively.

The control station 111 is further operable to transmit a request toservice the first electronic device 132 to the management system 102. Asstated herein, the management system 102 has access to the first image112 of applications for servicing the first image group and is operableto create the first virtual hard drive 122 containing the first copy ofthe first image 112. Similarly, the management system 102 also hasaccess to the second image 114 of applications for servicing the secondimage group and is operable to create the second virtual hard drive 124containing the first copy of the second image 114. The control station111 is operable to request the management system 102 to provide thefirst virtual hard drive 122 to the first test station 108. In someembodiments, the management system 102, upon receipt of the foregoingrequest, transmits a location of the first virtual hard drive 122 to thefirst test station 108 and a location of the second virtual hard drive124 to the second test station 110. In further embodiments, themanagement system 102 transmits the first virtual hard drive 122 and thesecond virtual hard drive 124 to the first test station 108 and thesecond test station 110, respectively. In further embodiments, themanagement system 102 transmits both the first virtual hard drive 122and the location of the first virtual hard drive 122 to the first teststation 108, and transmits both the second virtual hard drive 124 andthe location of the second virtual hard drive 124 to the second teststation 110. The control station 111 then requests the first teststation 108 and the second test station 110 to execute one or moreapplications stored on the first virtual hard drive 122 and the secondvirtual hard drive 124, respectively, to service the first electronicdevice 132 and the fourth electronic device 138.

The technician may utilize the control station 111 to service additionalelectronic devices. For example, the foregoing processes may beperformed by the control station 111, management system 102, first teststation 108, and second test station 110 to service the secondelectronic device 134 and the third electronic device 136, or otherelectronic devices (not shown) that are communicatively connected to thefirst test station 108, the second test station 110, or another teststation (not shown). In some embodiments, the first electronic device132 and the second electronic device 134 may be simultaneously servicedvia the first test station 108. In that regard, the technician mayutilize the control station 111 to request the first test station 108 tosimultaneously service the first electronic device 132, the secondelectronic device 134, as well as one or more additional electronicdevices (not shown) that are communicatively connected to the first teststation 108. Although the following paragraphs and FIGS. 2-5 describeand illustrate additional operations performed by the first test station108, these operations may also be performed by the control station 111to service electronic devices communicatively connected to the first andsecond test stations 108 and 110. As such, the control station 111 notonly allows the first test station 108 to devote available resources torunning applications stored on the first virtual hard drive 122 to setup multiple electronic devices that are communicatively connected to thefirst test station 108, the control station 111 also allows thetechnician to conveniently and remotely service the multiple electronicdevices.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a first interface 202 displaying aselection of device models 232A-232C and 233A-233C, and image groups 242and 243 that may be serviced by the first test station 108 of FIGS. 1Aand 1B in accordance with one embodiment. The first test station 108,upon receipt of a request to service the first electronic device 132,provides the first interface 202 on a display screen of the first teststation 108. A selection of device models 232A-232C and 233A-233C andimage groups 242 and 243 are displayed on the first interface 202. Thetechnician may select from the first, second, and third device models232A-232C of a first image group 242 and the first, second, and thirddevice models 233A-233C of a second image group 243 that the first teststation 108 is operable to service. In some embodiments, additionaldevice models (not shown) that are associated with the first and secondimage groups 242 and 243 or are associated with other image groups (notshown) maybe displayed on the first interface 202. The technician mayselect, from the displayed selection, the device model and the imagegroup of the first electronic device 132. In other embodiments, thefirst interface 202 provides a list of device models and image groupsthat the first test station 108 is operable to service. In furtherembodiments, the first interface 202 provides one or more textual,visual, audio-visual, or similar types of content to indicate the devicemodels and image groups that the first test station 108 is operable toservice. In further embodiments, the first interface 202 may provide thetechnician with an input box to input the device model and image groupof the first electronic device 132.

In some embodiments, the first electronic device 132 may provide thefirst test station 108 an indication of the device model and the imagegroup from the first electronic device 132. In one of such embodiments,the first test station 108 compares the received indication of thedevice model and image group of the first electronic device 132 with theuser selected device model and image group of the first electronicdevice 132. The first test station 108 then generates an error messageand provides the error message for display on the first interface 202 ifthe user selection of the device model and image group of the firstelectronic device 132 does not match the indication of the device modeland image group of the first electronic device 132. Once the first teststation 108 determines the device model and the image group of the firstelectronic device 132, the first test station 108 transmits a request toservice the first electronic device 132 to the management system 102 andreceives at least one of a virtual hard drive such as the first virtualhard drive 122 and a location of the first virtual hard drive 122 fromthe management system 102.

FIG. 3 is a tree diagram 300 illustrating a process for determiningcriteria for servicing the first electronic device 132 to a first setupin accordance with one embodiment. Although the paragraphs belowdescribe the operations of the process 300 being performed by aprocessor of the first test station 108, the process may also beperformed by a processor of the control station 111, by the second teststation 110, or by another test station (not shown). Further, althoughoperations in the process 300 are shown in a particular sequence,certain operations may be performed in different sequences or at thesame time where feasible. Further, in some embodiments, differentcombinations of some or all of the steps of the process 300 areperformed to determine the desired setup of another electronic device.

Each desired setup includes instructions specifying criteria forservicing an electronic device to the respective desired setup as wellas instructions specifying which application should be installed on theelectronic device, how to configure hardware, software, and/or firmwaresettings, how to manage existing user and/or proprietary content, aswell as other instructions for servicing the electronic device inaccordance with the respective desired setup. In some embodiments, theinstructions are stored on a local storage medium that is accessible bythe first test station 108. In other embodiments, the instructions arestored on the storage medium 104 and are accessible over the network106. At step 305, a processor of the first station 108 accesses thestorage medium to obtain instructions for the first desired setup.

At step 310, the processor accesses instructions to determine criteriafor servicing the first electronic device 132. Criteria for servicingthe first electronic device 132 are further divided into multiplesub-criteria to provide more granular categorization of the firstdesired setup. At step 312, the processor determines the sub-criteriafor updating the operating system of the first electronic device 132.The sub-criteria for updating the operating system of the firstelectronic device 132 is further divided into additional sub-criteria toprovide even more granular categorization of the first desired setup. Atstep 312 a, the processor determines the sub-criteria for updating thesettings of the operating system 312 a, which specifies defaultbrightness, language, time zone, font size, volume as well as otherdefault settings of the operating system. At step 312 b, the firstelectronic device 132 determines the sub-criteria for installing one ormore patches to update the operating system.

At step 314, the processor determines sub-criteria for pre-installedapplications. In some embodiments, the foregoing sub-criteria specifywhich applications should be pre-installed on the first electronicdevice 132. Examples of pre-installed applications include wordprocessing applications, anti-virus applications, web browsingapplications, as well as other applications that may be pre-installedtogether with the operating system. At step 316, the processordetermines the sub-criteria for updating firmware. In some embodimentsthe foregoing criteria specifies how to update one or more firmwareapplications running on the first electronic device. At step 318, theprocessor determines the sub-criteria for clock management to determinehow to manage internal clocks of the first electronic device 132.

At step 320, the processor determines criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device 132 based on a destination of the first electronicdevice 132. The destinations criteria include international destinationand domestic destination sub-criteria. At step 322, the processordetermines sub-criteria for servicing the first electronic device 132 ifthe first electronic device 132 is scheduled to be delivered to aninternational destination. The foregoing sub-criteria specify a defaultlanguage of the operating system running on the first electronic device132, a default time zone, as well as which proprietary applications maybe installed on the first electronic device 132. At step 324, theprocessor determines the sub-criteria for servicing the first electronicdevice 132 if the first electronic device 132 is scheduled to bedelivered to a domestic destination. The foregoing sub-criteria specifya default time zone as well as default settings for location baseddomestic services.

At step 330, the processor determines criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device 132 based on whether the first electronic device 132is new or used (device use criteria). The device use criteria includesub-criteria for new device models and pre-owned device models. At step332, the processor determines the sub-criteria for servicing new models,which includes determining which software should be installed on thefirst electronic device 132 as well as hardware, software, and/orfirmware settings for the first electronic device 132. At step 334, theprocessor determines the sub-criteria for servicing pre-owned models.The sub-criteria for servicing pre-owned models are further divided intosub-criteria for servicing electronic devices designated for return tomanufacturer, return to vendor, and return to user.

At step 334A, the processor determines the sub-criteria for returningthe first electronic device 132 to the manufacturer. The return tomanufacturer sub-criteria may specify that all user and proprietarycontent as well as any user installed software applications should beremoved. At step 334B, the processor determines the sub-criteria for thereturning the first electronic device 132 to vendor. The return tovendor sub-criteria may also specify that of all user and proprietarycontent as well as any user installed software applications should beremoved. The return to vendor sub-criteria may also specify one or morevendor specific applications to be installed on the first electronicdevice 132. At step 334C, the processor determines the sub-criteria forreturning the first electronic device 132 to the user. The return touser sub-criteria may specify that existing user and proprietary contentas well as user installed software should remain on the first electronicdevice 132.

At step 340, the processor determines criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device 132 based a type of repair scheduled for the firstelectronic device 132 (device repair condition). The foregoing criteriainclude sub-criteria specifying how to service devices having softwarerelated issues, devices having hardware related issues, as well asdevices that are beyond repair. At step 342, the processor determinesthe criteria for servicing the first electronic device 132 if the firstelectronic device 132 is designated to have software related issues. Thesoftware related issues criteria may specify that the first test station132 should install one or more diagnostic applications to facilitatesoftware repair. At step 344 the processor determines the criteria forservicing the first electronic device 132 if the first electronic device132 is designated to have hardware related issues. The hardware relatedissues criteria may specify that one or more hardware configurationapplications should be installed to facilitate hardware repair. At step346, the processor determines if the first electronic device 132 isdetermined to be damaged beyond repair. The damaged beyond repaircriteria may specify that all user content and proprietary contentshould be removed from the first electronic device 132, and specify thatexisting settings and software do not need to be modified.

At step 350, the processor determines criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device 132 based on technician specified instructions. Thetechnician specific criteria include sub-criteria of technicianspecified settings. At step 352, the processor determines thesub-criteria for technician specified settings of the operating system352, which specifies default brightness, language, time zone, font size,volume as well as other technician specified settings of the operatingsystem.

In some embodiments, different criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device 132 may conflict. In one of such embodiments, somecriteria for servicing the first electronic device 132 may be adjustedin view of other criteria for servicing the first electronic device 132.In another one of such embodiments, the first test station 108prioritizes criteria based on the source of the criteria. For example,criteria to service the first electronic device 132 based on the devicemodel and image group of the first electronic device 132 are given thehighest priority, followed by technician specified criteria, followed byuse condition criteria, followed by repair condition criteria, andfollowed by destination criteria. In a further one of such embodiments,the first test station 108 generates an error message if differentcriteria to service the first electronic device 132 conflict.

The process 300 is repeated for each electronic device being serviced bythe first test station 108 as well as other electronic devices beingserviced by other test stations communicatively connected to the network106. In some embodiments, the processor may simultaneously perform theprocess 300 on multiple electronic devices.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a second interface 402 displaying criteriafor servicing the first electronic device 132 of FIGS. 1A and 1B inaccordance with the first desired setup on the display screen of thefirst test station 108 in accordance with one embodiment. Moreover,criteria for servicing the first electronic device 132 in accordancewith the first desired setup are provided for display in first-fifthinteractive displays 410, 420, 430, 440, and 450 of the second displayinterface 402. The first interactive display 410 includes criteria forservicing the first electronic device 132 based on the device model ofthe first electronic device 132 as determined by steps 310, 312, 312 b,314, and 316 of the process 300. More particularly, the criteria forservicing the first electronic device 132 based on the device model ofthe first electronic device 132 include removing an existing 1^(st)generation operating system, installing a 2^(nd) generation operatingsystem, installing a network security patch, updating firmware, andinstalling a word processing application on the first electronic device132.

The second interactive display 420 includes criteria for servicing thefirst electronic device 132 based on the device destination of the firstelectronic device 132 as determined by steps 320 and 324 of the process300. More particularly, the criteria for servicing the first electronicdevice 132 based on the device destination of the first electronicdevice 132 include setting the default language to English, setting thedefault time to Pacific Time, and setting default the city to Pasadena.

The third interactive display 430 includes criteria for servicing thefirst electronic device 132 based on the device use condition of thefirst electronic device 132, as determined in steps, 330, 334, and 334Cof the process 300. More particularly, the criteria for servicing thefirst electronic device 132 based on the device use condition of thefirst electronic device 132 includes maintaining existing user content,maintaining existing user software, and maintaining existing usersettings.

The fourth interactive display 440 includes criteria for servicing thefirst electronic device 132 based on the device repair condition of thefirst electronic device 132. The first electronic device 132 isdetermined not to require repair. The fifth interactive display 450includes criteria for technician specified instructions, as determinedin step 352. The technician requested the first test station 108 to runa diagnostic scan on the first electronic device 132.

The criteria illustrated in FIG. 4 for is specific to the firstelectronic device 132. The criteria for other electronic devices thatare associated with different device models, having differentdestinations, or having different physical conditions would be differentfrom the criteria illustrated in FIG. 4. In some embodiments, theinstructions to service the first electronic device 132 in accordancewith the first desired setup are stored on a local storage mediumaccessible to the first test station 108. In other embodiments, theinstructions are stored on the storage medium 104 and are accessible tothe first test station 108 via the network 106.

In some embodiments, the technician may decide whether to accept thecriteria for servicing the first electronic device 132 as provided onthe second interface 402. In that regard, the technician may accept thecriteria by selecting selectable tab 450 or may decline the criteria byselecting selectable tab 452. In some embodiments, the technician maymodify the criteria by selecting and/or deselecting one or moreselections displayed on the first-fifth interactive displays 410, 420,430, 440, and 450. In one of such embodiments, the technician may alsoinput additional technician specified criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device 132 via the second interface 402. The first teststation 108 then services the first electronic device 132 in accordancewith the first desired setup upon receipt of an indication that thetechnician has accepted the displayed criteria. The first test station108 then executes a first set of applications stored on the firstvirtual hard drive 122 to service the first electronic device 132 inaccordance with the first desired setup. In some embodiments, the firsttest station 108 does not provide the second interface 402 for display.In one of such embodiments, the first test station 108, upon determiningthe first desired setup, automatically executes the first set ofapplications stored on the first virtual hard drive to service the firstelectronic device in accordance with the first desired setup.

In some embodiments, the first test station 108 also receives a requestto service the second electronic device 134. The first test station 108obtains the device model and image group of the second electronic device134. As stated herein, the first and second electronic devices 132 and134 are associated with one image group but belong to different devicemodels. In one of such embodiments, the first test station 108 performsthe foregoing process 300 as described in the previous paragraphs andillustrated in FIG. 3, or a similar process to determine criteria forservicing the second electronic device 134 in accordance with a seconddesired setup, then services the second electronic device 134 inaccordance with the second desired setup.

In some embodiments, the first test station 108 also receives a requestto service a fifth electronic device (not shown) that is communicativelyconnected to the first test station 108. In one of such embodiments,both the first electronic device 132 and the fifth electronic device areassociated with an identical device model. In such an embodiment, thefirst test station 108 executes identical instructions used to servicethe first electronic device 132 to service the fifth electronic devicein accordance with the first desired setup. In other embodiments, thefirst electronic device 132 and the fifth electronic device areassociated with different image groups. In such an embodiment, the firsttest station 108 transmits a request to service the fifth electronicdevice to the management system 102, and obtains at least one of a thirdvirtual hard drive (not shown) containing a copy of an image ofapplications compatible with the image group of the fifth electronicdevice and a location of the third virtual hard drive. The first teststation 108 then performs the foregoing process 300 described in theprevious paragraphs and illustrated in FIG. 3 or a similar process todetermine a desired setup for servicing the fifth electronic device, andservices the fifth electronic device in accordance with the desiredsetup.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a third interface 502 displaying analternative test station that is operable to service the firstelectronic device 132 of FIGS. 1A and 1B based on the configurationsillustrated in FIG. 4 on a display screen of the first test station 108of FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with one embodiment. In someembodiments, the first test station 108 does not include or is notcommunicatively connected to one or more hardware, software and/orfirmware components needed to service the first electronic device 132 inaccordance with the first desired setup. The first test station 108,upon determining that the first test station 108 is not operable toservice the first electronic device 132 in accordance with the firstdesired setup, provides a first indication 508 on the third interface502 notifying the technician that the first test station is not operableto service the first electronic device 132. The first test station 108may also determine whether the second test station 110 or another teststation (not shown) has access to the first virtual hard drive 122 or alocation of the first virtual hard drive 122, is communicativelyconnected to the first electronic device 132, and is operable to servicethe first electronic device 132 in accordance with the first desiredsetup. The first test station 108, upon determining that the second teststation 110 satisfies the foregoing requirements, provides a secondindication 510 on the third interface 502 notifying the technician thatthe second test station 110 may service the first electronic device 132.

The technician may select a first selectable tab 550 to request thesecond test station 110 to service the first electronic device 132 orselect a second selectable tab 552 to not request the second teststation 110 to service the first electronic device 132. In one of suchembodiments, the first test station 108, upon receipt of an indicationto handover servicing of the first electronic device 132 to the secondtest station 110, requests the second test station 110 to perform theprocesses described herein to service the first electronic device 132.In another one of such embodiments, the first test station 108, uponreceipt of an indication not to handover servicing of the firstelectronic device 132 to another test station, generates an errormessage, and provides the error message for display on the thirdinterface 502, thereby notifying the technician that the firstelectronic device 132 cannot be serviced by any test stationcommunicatively connected to the first electronic device 132.

Although the foregoing operations are performed by the first teststation 108, the operations may also be performed by the second teststation 110 or another test station (not shown) that is communicativelyconnected to the management system 102 and one or more electronicdevices. Further, the operations may also be performed by the controlstation 111 of FIG. 1B to remotely service multiple electronic devicesthat are communicatively connected to different test stations.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of different components of the managementsystem 102 of FIG. 1A operable to create a virtual hard drive storing acopy of an image of applications for servicing one or the electronicdevices of FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with one embodiment. The firsttest station 108, upon receipt of a request to service the firstelectronic device 132, transmits the request over the network 106, to afirst component 602 of the management system 102 to determine an addressof the first test station 108. In one embodiment, the first component602 of the management system 102 is a Dynamic Host ConfigurationProtocol (DHCP) server computer operable to obtain the address of thefirst test station 108 and to provide the address of the first teststation 108 to a second component 604 of the management system 102. Thesecond component 604 of the management system 102 is operable toremotely access an operating system to remotely boot from the operatingsystem, and is operable to provide the booted operating system to athird component 605 of the management system 102. In one embodiment, thesecond component 604 is a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) servercomputer operable to remotely access an operating system compatible withapplications executed to service the first electronic device 132.

The third component 605 deploys the booted operating system in an opensource network 606 to utilize an open source boot firmware to remotelydeploy the booted operating system. In one embodiment, the open sourcenetwork is an iPreboot eXecution Environment (iPXE) operable to deploythe operating system using iPXE. The deployed operating system accessesthe first image 112 stored in the storage medium 104 and creates thefirst virtual hard drive 122 containing a copy of the first image 112.The first virtual hard drive 122 and/or a location of the first virtualhard drive 122 is then provided to a fourth component 608 of themanagement system 102, where at least one of the first virtual harddrive 122 and the location of the first virtual hard drive 122 istransmitted to the first test station 108 via the network 106. In oneembodiment, the fourth component 608 of the management system is aniSCSI computer operable to obtain the first virtual hard drive 122 andto provide at least one of the first virtual hard drive 122 or alocation of the first virtual hard drive 122 via an iSCSI interface ofthe network 106 to the first test station 108.

Although FIG. 6 illustrates four components and an open source networkof the management system 102, the management system 102 may be assembledfrom a different number of components and networks cumulatively operableto receive a request to service the first electronic device 132, obtainthe first virtual hard drive 122, and to provide at least one of thefirst virtual hard drive 122 and a copy of the first virtual hard drive122 to the first test station 108 over iSCSI. Alternatively, themanagement system 102 may be formed from a single work station operableto perform the foregoing processes to provide at least one of the firstvirtual hard drive 122 and a copy of the first virtual hard drive 122 tothe first test station 108 over iSCSI.

As used in this specification and any claims of this application, theterms “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and “memory” all refer toelectronic or other technological devices. As used in this specificationand any claims of this application, the terms “computer readable medium”and “computer readable media” are entirely restricted to tangible,physical objects that store information in a form that is readable by acomputer. These terms exclude any wireless signals, wired downloadsignals, and any other ephemeral signals.

The above-disclosed embodiments have been presented for purposes ofillustration and to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practicethe disclosure, but the disclosure is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the forms disclosed. Many insubstantial modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The scopeof the claims is intended to broadly cover the disclosed embodiments andany such modification.

The above disclosed embodiments have been presented for purposes ofillustration and to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practicethe disclosed embodiments, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the forms disclosed. Many insubstantial modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Forinstance, although the flowcharts depict a serial process, some of thesteps/blocks may be performed in parallel or out of sequence, orcombined into a single step/block. The scope of the claims is intendedto broadly cover the disclosed embodiments and any such modification.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification and/or the claims,specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/orgroups thereof. In addition, the steps and components described in theabove embodiments and figures are merely illustrative and do not implythat any particular step or component is a requirement of a claimedembodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method to service anelectronic device, the method comprising: receiving a request to servicea first electronic device communicatively connected to a first teststation; obtaining a device model and an image group of the firstelectronic device, each image group being associated with one or moredifferent device models; determining criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device in accordance with a first desired setup, the criteriabeing based on the device model of the first electronic device;transmitting a request to service the first electronic device to amanagement system having an image of one or more applications compatiblewith the image group of the first electronic device; receiving at leastone of a first virtual hard drive storing a copy of the image of the oneor more applications and an indication of a location of the firstvirtual hard drive, the first virtual hard drive being accessible to thefirst test station; and executing a first set of the one or moreapplications to service the first electronic device in accordance withthe first desired setup.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein determining the criteria for servicing the first electronicdevice in accordance with the first desired setup comprises determiningat least one of criteria for servicing the first electronic device basedon the device model of the first electronic device, a destination of thefirst electronic device, a device use condition of the first electronicdevice, and a device repair condition of the first electronic device. 3.The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein determining thecriteria for servicing the first electronic device based on the devicemodel of the first electronic device comprises determining at least onesub-criteria for servicing the first electronic device based on adesired operating system of the first electronic device, pre-installedapplications of the first electronic device, and firmware specificationsof the first electronic device.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 3, wherein determining the sub-criteria for servicing the firstelectronic device based on the desired operating system of the firstelectronic device comprises determining one or more pre-selectedsettings and patches for the desired operating system, and whereinexecuting the first set of the one or more applications comprises:installing the desired operating system on the first electronic device;configuring the desired operating system to run in accordance with theone or more pre-selected settings; and installing the one or morepatches to update the desired operating system in accordance with thefirst desired setup.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein determining the criteria for servicing the first electronicdevice based on the device use condition of the first electronic devicecomprises: determining a condition of the first electronic device;determining sub-criteria for servicing new models if the firstelectronic device is determined to be in a new condition; anddetermining sub-criteria for servicing pre-owned models if the firstelectronic device is determined to be in a used condition.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein determining thesub-criteria for servicing pre-owned models comprises: determining arecipient of the first electronic device; and determining sub-criteriafor servicing models designated as a return to a manufacturer, a returnto a vendor, or a return to a user based on the determined recipient ofthe first electronic device.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim6, further comprising: determining whether pre-existing user content isstored on the first electronic device, where executing the first set ofthe one or more applications comprises removing the pre-existing usercontent if the determined recipient of the first electronic device isthe manufacturer of the first electronic device.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein determining the criteriafor servicing the first electronic device based on the device repaircondition of the first electronic device comprises determining whetherthe first electronic device is damaged beyond repair.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein determining the criteriafor servicing the first electronic device based on the destination ofthe first electronic device comprises determining whether thedestination of the first electronic device is a domestic destination oran international destination.
 10. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1 further comprising: determining whether the first test stationis operable to execute the first set of the one or more applications;and identifying a second test station having access to the first virtualhard drive, wherein the second test station is communicatively connectedto the first electronic device and is operable to execute the first setof the one or more applications; and requesting the second test stationto execute the first set of the one or more applications to service thefirst electronic device in accordance with the first desired setup. 11.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a request to service a second electronic devicecommunicatively connected to the first test station; obtaining a devicemodel and an image group of the second electronic device; and executingthe first set of the one or more applications to service the secondelectronic device in accordance with the first desired setup if thedevice model of the first electronic device and the device model of thesecond electronic device are identical.
 12. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 11, further comprising: determining criteria forservicing the second electronic device to a second desired setup, thecriteria for servicing the second electronic device in accordance withthe second desire setup being based on the device model of the secondelectronic device; and executing a second set of the one or moreapplications to service the second electronic device in accordance withthe second desired setup if the first electronic device and the secondelectronic device are associated with an identical image group and ifthe device model of the first electronic device and the device model ofthe second electronic device are different.
 13. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 12, wherein if first electronic device and the secondelectronic device as associated with different image groups, the methodfurther comprises: transmitting a request to service the secondelectronic device to the management system, wherein the managementsystem is accessible to an image of one or more applications compatiblewith the image group of the second electronic device; receiving a secondvirtual hard drive storing a copy of the image of the one or moreapplications compatible with the image group of the second electronicdevice; and executing a first set of the one or more applications storedon the second virtual hard drive to service the second electronic devicein accordance with the second desired setup.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising: identifyinga second test station having access to the second virtual hard drive,wherein the second test station is communicatively connected to thesecond electronic device and is operable to execute the first set of theone or more applications stored on the second virtual hard drive toservice the second electronic device in accordance with the seconddesired setup; and requesting the second test station to execute thefirst set of the one or more applications stored on the second virtualhard drive to service the second electronic device in accordance withthe second desired setup.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim1, further comprising: providing the first desired setup for display ona display interface; and receiving a user indication confirming thefirst electronic device should be serviced in accordance with the firstdesired setup, wherein the request to service the first electronicdevice is transmitted if the user indication confirming the firstelectronic device should be serviced in accordance with the firstdesired setup is received.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim1, further comprising: providing one or more device models of one ormore image groups for display on a display interface; and receiving auser selection of the device model of the first electronic device amongthe one or more device models of the one or more image groups displayedon the display interface, wherein the device model and image group ofthe first electronic device are obtained based on the user selection ofthe device model of the first electronic device.
 17. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving anupdated virtual hard drive storing a updated copy of the image of theone or more applications in response to an update to the image of theone or more applications, wherein executing the first set of the one ormore applications comprises executing the first set of the one or moreapplications stored on the updated virtual hard drive to service thefirst electronic device in accordance with the first desired setup. 18.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:determining a number of test stations belonging to a first group of teststations, wherein each test station of the first group of test stationsis utilized to service at least one electronic device that is associatedwith a first image group; determining a number of virtual hard drivesbelonging to a first set of virtual hard drives, wherein each virtualhard drive of the first set of virtual hard drives stores a copy of afirst image and is accessible by the system manager, and wherein thefirst image is an image of one or more applications utilized to servicethe at least one electronic device; and dynamically requesting themanagement system to readjust the number of the first set of virtualhard drives based on a first ratio, wherein the first ratio is a ratioof the number of test stations belonging to the first group of teststations relative to the number of the first set of virtual hard drives.19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein dynamicallyrequesting the management system to readjust the number of the first setof virtual hard drives further comprises: requesting the managementsystem to remove at least one existing virtual hard drive of the firstset of virtual hard drives if the first ratio is less than 1; andrequesting the management system to create at least one new virtual harddrive of the first set of virtual hard drives if the first ratio isgreater than
 1. 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, furthercomprising: determining a maximum number of the first group of teststations to be concurrently utilized to service the at least oneelectronic device within a subsequent operational duration, whereindynamically requesting the management system to readjust the number ofthe first set of virtual hard drives is further based on the maximumnumber of the first group test stations to be concurrently utilized toservice the at least one electronic device within the subsequentoperational duration relative to the number of the first set of virtualhard drives.
 21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, whereindetermining the maximum number of the first group of test stations to beconcurrently utilized to service the at least one electronic devicewithin the subsequent operational duration comprises: determining amaximum number of the first group of test stations concurrently utilizedto service the at least one electronic device within a precedingoperational duration, wherein the maximum number of the first group oftest stations to be concurrently utilized to service the at least oneelectronic device within the subsequent operational duration comprisesis equal to the maximum number of the first group of test stationsconcurrently utilized to service the at least one electronic devicewithin the preceding operational duration.
 22. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 18, further comprising: determining a maximum number ofthe first group of test stations concurrently utilized to service the atleast one electronic device during a preceding operational duration,wherein dynamically requesting the management system to readjust thenumber of the first set of virtual hard drives is further based on themaximum number of the first group of test stations concurrently utilizedto service the at least one electronic device during the precedingoperational duration relative to the number of the first set of virtualhard drives.
 23. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, furthercomprising: determining a maximum number of the at least one electronicdevice to be serviced within an operational duration; determining amaximum number of the at least one electronic device the first group oftest stations are operable to concurrently service; and dynamicallyreadjusting the number of test stations belonging to the first group oftest stations based on a second ratio, the second ratio being a ratio ofthe maximum number of the at least one electronic device to be servicedwithin the operational duration relative to the maximum number of the atleast one electronic device the first group of test stations areoperable to concurrently service.
 24. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 23, wherein dynamically readjusting the number of test stationsbelonging to the first group of test stations comprises: reducing thenumber of test stations belonging to the first group of test stations ifthe second ratio is less than 1; and increasing the number of teststations belonging to the first group of test stations if the secondratio is greater than
 1. 25. The computer-implemented method of claim24, wherein increasing the number of test stations belonging to thefirst group of test stations comprises: identifying another test stationthat is communicatively connected to the managing system and one or moreof the at least one electronic device; and requesting the other teststation to service the one or more of the at least one electronicdevice.
 26. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, furthercomprising: determining a number of test stations belonging to a secondgroup of test stations, wherein each test station of the second group oftest stations is utilized to service at least one electronic device thatis associated with a second image group; determining a number of virtualhard drives belonging to a second set of virtual hard drives, whereineach virtual hard drive of the second set of virtual hard drives storesa copy of a second image and is accessible by the system manager, andwherein the second image is an image of one or more applicationsutilized to service the at least one electronic device that isassociated with the second image group; and determining a third ratio,wherein the third ratio is a ratio of the number of test stationsbelonging to the second group of test stations relative to the number ofthe second set of virtual hard drives, wherein dynamically requestingthe management system to readjust the number of the first set of virtualhard drives is further based on the third ratio.
 27. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 26, wherein dynamically requestingthe management system to readjust the number of the first set of virtualhard drives further comprises: requesting the management system toremove at least one existing virtual hard drive of the first set ofvirtual hard drives if the first ratio and the third ratio are both lessthan 1 and if the first ratio is less than the third ratio; andrequesting the management system to create at least one new virtual harddrive of the first set of virtual hard drives if the first ratio and thethird ratio are both less than 1 and if the first ratio is greater thanthe third ratio.
 28. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a number of electronic devices being serviced byat least one test station and being associated with a second imagegroup; determining a number of virtual hard drives that store a copy ofa second image, wherein the second image is an image of one or moreapplications compatible with the second image group; and requesting themanagement system to remove at least one virtual hard drive that storesa copy of the second image if the number of the electronic devices beingserviced by the at least one test station and being associated with thesecond image group is less than a first threshold value, and if thenumber of virtual hard drives that store a copy of the second image isgreater than the first threshold value.
 29. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein receiving at least one of the first virtualhard drive and the indication of the location of the first virtual harddrive comprises receiving the virtual hard drive over an internet smallcomputer systems interface (iSCSI).
 30. A system for servicing multipleelectronic devices, the system comprising: a plurality of test stations,each test station operable to service a plurality of electronic devices,each electronic device associated with an electronic device model(device model), and an image group that is associated with at least onedevice model; and a management system communicatively connected to theplurality of test stations, the management system operable to: receive arequest from a first test station of the plurality of test stations, thefirst test station being communicatively connected to a first pluralityof electronic devices; determine an image group of the first pluralityof electronic devices; obtain a copy of an image of one or moreapplications operable to run on the first plurality of electronicdevices, wherein the copy of the image is stored on a first virtual harddrive; and transmit the first virtual hard drive storing the copy of theimage of the one or more applications to the first test station, whereina first set of the one or more applications are executed by the firsttest station to service the first plurality of electronic devicescommunicatively connected to the first test station.
 31. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions storedtherein, which when executed by one or more processors, causes the oneor more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving a requestto service a first electronic device; providing an interface to displayone or more device models of one or more image groups on a first teststation communicatively connected to the first electronic device, eachimage group being associated with one or more different device models;obtaining a device model and an image group of the first electronicdevice; determining criteria for servicing the first electronic devicein accordance with a first desired setup, the criteria being based on atleast one of the device model of the first electronic device, acondition of the first electronic device, at least one user specifiedcriteria, and at least one customer specified criteria; transmitting arequest to service the first electronic device to a management systemhaving an image of one or more applications compatible with the imagegroup of the first electronic device; receiving at least one of a firstvirtual hard drive storing a copy of the image of the one or moreapplications, the first virtual hard drive being accessible to the firsttest station and an indication of a location of the first virtual harddrive; and executing a first set of the one or more applications toservice the first electronic device in accordance with the first desiredsetup.
 32. A computer-implemented method to service an electronicdevice, the method comprising: receiving a request to service a firstelectronic device; providing an interface to display one or more devicemodels of one or more image groups on a first test stationcommunicatively connected to the first electronic device, each imagegroup having one or more different device models; obtaining a devicemodel and an image group of the first electronic device; transmitting arequest to service the first electronic device to a management systemhaving an image of one or more applications compatible with the imagegroup of the first electronic device, the management system beingoperable to provide a first virtual hard drive storing a copy of theimage of the one or more applications to the first test station;determining criteria for servicing the first electronic device inaccordance with a first desired setup, the criteria being based on thedevice model of the first electronic device; and requesting the firsttest station to execute a first set of the one or more applications toservice the first electronic device in accordance with the first desiredsetup.
 33. The computer-implemented method of claim 32 furthercomprising: determining whether the first test station is operable toexecute the first set of the one or more applications; and identifying asecond test station operable to access to the first virtual hard drive,wherein the second test station is communicatively connected to thefirst electronic device and is operable to execute the first set of theone or more applications; and requesting the second test station toexecute the first set of the one or more applications to service thefirst electronic device in accordance with the first desired setup. 34.The computer-implemented method of claim 33, further comprising:receiving a request to service a second electronic devicecommunicatively connected to the first test station; obtaining a devicemodel and an image group of the second electronic device; requesting thefirst test station to execute the first set of the one or moreapplications to service the second electronic device in accordance withthe first desired setup if the device model of the first electronicdevice and the device model of the second electronic device areidentical; dynamically obtaining a second desired setup of the secondelectronic device based on the device model of the second electronicdevice; and requesting the first test station to execute a second set ofthe one or more applications to service the second electronic device inaccordance with the second desired setup if the first electronic deviceand the second electronic device are associated with an identical imagegroup and if the device model of the first electronic device and thedevice model of the second electronic device are different.